Typically, the communication facility connecting telephone equipment to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) comprises a twisted pair of copper wires, and is referred to as a "customer line." The customer line provides a two-way communication path between the telephone equipment and a central office serving as a gateway to the PSTN.
To realize customer lines, a feeder cable extends from the central office to a feeder distribution interface, from which a distribution cable runs. The feeder cable and distribution cable are each composed of many plastic-insulated copper wires twisted together into pairs. The number of wire pairs in either cable is typically on the order of 1,000. The wire pairs in the feeder cable, known as "feeder pairs," each of which corresponds to a telephone number, are terminated on one side of the feeder distribution interface. The wire pairs in the distribution cable, known as "distribution pairs," each of which corresponds to a customer line, extend from the other side of the interface. The assignment of a telephone number to a particular customer line is accomplished by connecting, at the feeder distribution interface, the feeder pair corresponding to the telephone number with the distribution pair corresponding to the particular customer line.
To deliver customer lines to customer premises, e.g., a cluster of homes, the distribution cable containing the distribution pairs may be aerially suspended by and strung through telephone poles, or buried underground. Aerial terminals are used to terminate the distribution pairs from above ground while pedestal terminals which are the ground versions of the aerial terminals are used to terminate the distribution pairs from underground. These aerial terminals or pedestal terminals are placed close to the cluster of homes.
In prior art, each aerial or pedestal terminal is used to terminate a predetermined number of distribution pairs, which includes a splice chamber, and a terminal block having the predetermined number of pairs of metal posts thereon, where the predetermined number is typically 12. Accordingly, the splice chamber in the terminal is used to splice 12 distribution pairs from the distribution cable. Each resulting pair of splice connections corresponding to a distribution pair is terminated at first ends of a respective pair of metal posts on the terminal block. Drop wires may be extended from the other ends of the metal post pair to one of the homes for connection with telephone equipment. Thus, currently, each aerial or pedestal terminal typically provides 12 customer lines which are shared by four homes, i.e., three lines per home.